When I began writing this blog a couple of years ago, I never anticipated the responsibility that would come with putting my thoughts "out there" for a multitude of people to read and peruse. And I never anticipated that people would begin copying the blog link and putting it on their Facebook pages or sending it out to all their email contacts. And I never anticipated that I would be flooded with emails offering commentary, both positive and negative, concerning my subject matter, style of writing, color of the blog background ... you name it, and I've gotten comments about it. And I never anticipated that God would drive me over the last few months to blog and blog and blog some more.
While several entries have drawn significant responses (including one that garnered over 2,000 emails), my previous post has generated a great deal of unexpected feedback. Because of the content of some of that feedback, I feel the need to expand a bit on my "The Face of Hate" entry.
From the very start of penning this blog, I felt that I should be open, honest, transparent, if you will ... writing from my heart, holding nothing back, sharing both the joys and struggles that I encounter in my day-to-day walk along the path of life. And, in that quest for openness and honesty, the last year or so has brought with it ... well, some twists and turns that I didn't expect or see coming. Some physical challenges in regard to my diabetes, some emotional highs and lows in dealing with living alone now that my children are all grown and have moved out, and some spiritual rough patches brought about by events and situations that have caused me to question at times how real my faith is and how deeply I hold and know the truth of God's Word.
My point in writing "The Face of Hate" was that we all have sin in our lives ... not one of us is perfect; not one of us is truly holy; not one of us has the right to judge another. And yet, I often think that we as Christians ... those of us who claim to mirror our lives after Jesus Christ ... are the ones to cast the first stone toward others whom we deem as sinners because of their speech, their addictions, their sexual orientation, their income level ... you choose the tag or label. Though we are called to love without strings, we don't. Plain and simple ... gut honest ... we don't love people the way we are commanded by Jesus himself to love. We've lost the concept of "hate the sin but love the sinner" as a general rule, until those "sinners" become someone dear to us. It suddenly becomes hard to hate someone who is gay when that someone is your best friend, your sister, your uncle. It's hard to hate the hidden drug addict who is your neighbor, the person sitting next to you at church, your child.
God has more than abundantly blessed me with family and friends who love me no matter what I am doing or what I have done. People who don't judge me, even though they know the dirt in my life. And trust me (for those of you who commented about me being a Christian speaker and therefore should never sin), there is dirt ... there will always be dirt because I will always be human until I reach heaven and God makes me completely pure. And so much more important than the love I receive from my family and friends is the love that God showers on me ... unconditional, undeserved, unlimited.
So my point being? The Scripture that says, "Judge not lest you be judged," isn't in the Bible by accident. And the Bible is complete and total truth, every single word. I should be eternally grateful that God never ever wears the face of hate ... and the truth is ... I shouldn't wear it either, ever.
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." John 13:34.
That, my friends, says it all.
6 comments:
You are a true inspiration and always, always speak the truth. You know I'm not religious, but I believe in a love that conquers hate and you have it in spades. Thanks for always reminding me of who a true Christian is and what a true Christian writes about.
Amen to this. It occurred to me one time as I was writing a devotion (about myself) that probably MOST devotions have come from some inner struggle of the person writing it. Up until that time I thought that all Christian writers/speakers were perfect, sinless, had it all together and that I could never be one because, well frankly, I'm NOT perfect.
With that revelation came freedom but also A new respect for people like you that would stand up and stand out. That would speak the truth even when it might reveal something about them that was not so pretty in there lives or invoke negative response.
I am sure that your blogs being spoken in first person have set some individuals back. They have the impression that I did about all Christian writer/speakers.... You are perfect, you have it all together. You must or how could you be up there speaking....
You see we have this false image, one of others, of our selves, one that we have to portray to the world around us, that is why we cast the first stone. Your sin makes mine not look so bad. If I am judging you I don't have to look at me, or if i pretend to be something I'm not...maybe it will come true.
We do not please God with this type of attitude or thinking. Read Romans 12:9-16
I do not like or ascribe to the phrase "love the sinner hate the sin" because in honesty we can not separate the two, we are labeled and tagged and branded with the visible sin and that is who people see. Not the real us, the child of God, doing our best. The only exception to this is outlined in your "The Face of Hate" blog, when we are close to someone...and then we find out about some hidden sin, it tends to soften us some. Thank God I have friends in my life like this... but it isn't always true. Even then some Christians (friends) judge, saying that because of the sin I have revealed to them I must not be a Christian, and they have fallen away as my friend because of THEIR condemnation (not Gods)... that is ultimate judging...I pray that my heart does not harden to that extent...the command is this...like you quoted....Love one another JUST as Christ loved US. If Christ turned me away because of my sin...He turned you away as well.
Dear Anonymous,
First, thanks so much for the kind words, but I'm just a vessel and absolutely nothing without Him. I truly appreciate your comments and feel like I should know who you are ... wanna send me a private email? terriejohnson401@hotmail.com
May God bless you, friend, along the journey and amen to a love that conquers hate!
Great post. I am someone who tried to walk a path without God for most of my adult life and it was a Christian who had fallen the furthest that spoke to my heart, who showed me grace when I felt I deserved little, and who ultimately led me back to His path.
i love that i posted my comment to the original post before i read this one. can i say here that great minds think alike? ;)
oh and btw, if i haven't commented i haven't read it. that's how you'll know!!! ;)
Alright so... before anyone goes after me... I was asked repeatedly and repeatedly to comment.
My first point is going to be a gut shot, and is why I held my comment. I disagree with you adamently, vehemently, and any other adjective "ly" over one sentence "And the Bible is complete and total truth, every single word." This is not true. The bible has many proven historical inaccuracies, from the gospels giving different accounts, to the misdating of Ramses reign over Egypt, and to the miscalculations of many major battle durations. The bible was written by a man, whom you just dedicated your blog to saying that no man is perfect, but then end by saying the "men" who wrote that book were? You want to keep that cake mommy or eat it?
The problem with sin in the christian church also stems from that very seriously untrue statement you made and every organized christian lives by. Sin is not a fault, its a path. Its very hard to condemn someone for their "path." The men who wrote the bible (yes men not women), needed to introduce personal guilt into the "sin" journey, in order to keep people coming back to church every week. If you can keep someone feeling guilty for normal human impulses, they will never be able to live life without relieving that guilt, which entails going to church. The Catholic church proves this principle the best, not only did they keep people in their congregations through confessions of "sin", they made a profit by charging their patrons for god's forgiveness, and became extremely powerful in the process.
The bottom line is everyone is a human being, we all make mistakes, we all cuss in stressful situations, we all tell white lies, we all have a sexual attraction, we all have sex at some point....we all take drugs (not all are illegal). The problem is the "persona" which I like where Angi touched on most people thinking speakers of Christ to be blameless and perfect, but still others expect and demand it. The disgraced pastor who is asked to leave by his congregation? The sunday school teacher asked not to teach because of personal sin? Are they not to be forgiven and treated as human beings?
SBNR movement captures it best, where they say I hate organized religion because it is full of is a bunch of critical judgmental right wing psychos reading mistranslations and living fundamentalist lifestyles they don't understand, while prescribing to a history that NEVER took place. Us as christians have done well to earn this reputation, not understanding the core of our beliefs, and it is what will end up destroying the church. Judge away. The bible also says you should give the church 10% of your income, and Jesus later says give to Ceasar what is Ceasar's (government currency)and give to god what is god's (God currency), yet how many churches accept government currency? WHY? It's all about appearance. It's being in church, it's being seen "giving away" money (HOW AMERICAN!!!). God has no idea how much money is in your bank account,or how much you gave a religious swindler (organization). God point blank said in human form (Jesus) that he did not care about money, it was made by man, for man's purposes, and is useful only for men. But every year in every church the pastor talks about God's desire for you to give him money.
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